Enhancements for uplink beam operations

ABSTRACT

An apparatus of user equipment (UE) includes processing circuitry coupled to a memory, where to configure the UE for uplink (UL) beam selection in a New Radio (NR) network, the processing circuitry is to decode a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) from a base station. The MAC CE identifies a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set and a plurality of spatial relationship reference signals. An SRS is selected from the SRS resource set. A beam direction associated with a spatial relationship reference signal of the plurality of spatial relationship reference signals is derived. The spatial relationship reference signal corresponds to the selected SRS. The SRS is encoded for beamforming to transmit the selected SRS in the derived beam direction.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims the benefit of priority to the U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/777,494, filed Dec. 10, 2018, andentitled “METHODS FOR ENHANCED UPLINK BEAM OPERATIONS,” whichapplication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects pertain to wireless communications. Some aspects relate towireless networks including 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project)networks, 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, 3GPP LTE-A (LTEAdvanced) networks, and fifth-generation (5G) networks including 5G newradio (NR) (or 5G-NR) networks, 5G-LTE networks, and 5G NR unlicensedspectrum (NR-U) networks. Other aspects are directed to enhancements foruplink beam operations.

BACKGROUND

Mobile communications have evolved significantly from early voicesystems to today's highly sophisticated integrated communicationplatform. With the increase in different types of devices communicatingwith various network devices, usage of 3GPP LTE systems has increased.The penetration of mobile devices (user equipment or UEs) in modernsociety has continued to drive demand for a wide variety of networkeddevices in a number of disparate environments. Fifth-generation (5G)wireless systems are forthcoming and are expected to enable even greaterspeed, connectivity, and usability. Next generation 5G networks (or NRnetworks) are expected to increase throughput, coverage, and robustnessand reduce latency and operational and capital expenditures. 5G-NRnetworks will continue to evolve based on 3GPP LTE-Advanced withadditional potential new radio access technologies (RATs) to enrichpeople's lives with seamless wireless connectivity solutions deliveringfast, rich content and services. As current cellular network frequencyis saturated, higher frequencies, such as millimeter wave (mmWave)frequency, can be beneficial due to their high bandwidth.

Potential LTE operation in the unlicensed spectrum includes and is notlimited to) the LTE operation in the unlicensed spectrum via dualconnectivity (DC), or DC-based LAA, and the standalone LTE system in theunlicensed spectrum, according to which LTE-based technology solelyoperates in unlicensed spectrum without requiring an “anchor” in thelicensed spectrum, called MulteFire. MulteFire combines the performancebenefits of LTE technology with the simplicity of Wi-Fi-likedeployments.

Further enhanced operation of LTE systems in the licensed as well asunlicensed spectrum is expected in future releases and 5G systems. Suchenhanced operations can include methods for uplink beam operations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In the figures, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numeralsmay describe similar components in different views. Like numerals havingdifferent letter suffixes may represent different instances of similarcomponents. The figures illustrate generally, by way of example, but notby way of limitation, various aspects discussed in the present document.

FIG. 1A illustrates an architecture of a network, in accordance withsome aspects.

FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C illustrate a non-roaming 5G system architecture inaccordance with some aspects.

FIG. 2 illustrates a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE)for periodic/aperiodic sounding reference signal (SRS) resource setspatial relationship configuration, in accordance with some aspects.

FIG. 3 illustrates an enhanced MAC CE for SRS resource set spatialrelationship configuration, in accordance with some aspects.

FIG. 4 illustrates a MAC CE for a PUCCH resource set spatialrelationship configuration, in accordance with some aspects.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device such as anevolved Node-B (eNB), a new generation Node-B (gNB), an access point(AP), a wireless station (STA), a mobile station (MS), or a userequipment (UE), in accordance with some aspects.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrateaspects to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Otheraspects may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, andother changes. Portions and features of some aspects may be included inor substituted for, those of other aspects. Aspects set forth in theclaims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

FIG. 1A illustrates an architecture of a network in accordance with someaspects. The network 140A is shown to include user equipment (UE) 101and UE 102. The UEs 101 and 102 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g.,handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or morecellular networks) but may also include any mobile or non-mobilecomputing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers,laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, drones, or anyother computing device including a wired and/or wireless communicationsinterface. The UEs 101 and 102 can be collectively referred to herein asUE 101, and UE 101 can be used to perform one or more of the techniquesdisclosed herein.

Any of the radio links described herein (e.g., as used in the network140A or any other illustrated network) may operate according to anyexemplary radio communication technology and/or standard.

LTE and LTE-Advanced are standards for wireless communications ofhigh-speed data for UE such as mobile telephones. In LTE-Advanced andvarious wireless systems, carrier aggregation is a technology accordingto which multiple carrier signals operating on different frequencies maybe used to carry communications for a single LT, thus increasing thebandwidth available to a single device. In some aspects, carrieraggregation may be used where one or more component carriers operate onunlicensed frequencies.

Aspects described herein can be used in the context of any spectrummanagement scheme including, for example, dedicated licensed spectrum,unlicensed spectrum, (licensed) shared spectrum (such as Licensed SharedAccess (LSA) in 2.3-2.4 GHz, 3.4-3.6 GHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz, and furtherfrequencies and Spectrum Access System (SAS) in 3.55-3.7 GHz and furtherfrequencies).

Aspects described herein can also be applied to different Single Carrieror OFDM flavors (CP-OFDM, SC-FDMA, SC-OFDM, filter bank-basedmulticarrier (FBMC), OFDMA, etc.) and in particular 3GPP NR (New Radio)by allocating the OFDM carrier data bit vectors to the correspondingsymbol resources.

In some aspects, any of the UEs 101 and 102 can comprise anInternet-of-Things (IoT) UE or a Cellular IoT (CIoT) UE, which cancomprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applicationsutilizing short-lived UE connections. In some aspects, any of the UEs101 and 102 can include a narrowband (NB) IoT UE (e.g., such as anenhanced NB-IoT (eNB-IoT) UE and Further Enhanced (FeNB-IoT) UE). An IoTUE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) ormachine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC serveror device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-BasedService (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensornetworks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be amachine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network includesinterconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiableembedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), withshort-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications(e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate theconnections of the IoT network.

In some aspects, any of the UEs 101 and 102 can include enhanced MTC(eMTC) UEs or further enhanced MTC (FeMTC) UEs.

The UEs 101 and 102 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicativelycouple, with a radio access network (RAN) 110. The RAN 110 may be, forexample, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), orsome other type of RAN. The UEs 101 and 102 utilize connections 103 and104, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communicationsinterface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example,the connections 103 and 104 are illustrated as an air interface toenable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellularcommunications protocols, such as a Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA)network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular(POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth-generation(5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

In an aspect, the UEs 101 and 102 may further directly exchangecommunication data via a ProSe interface 105. The ProSe interface 105may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising oneor more logical channels, including but not limited to a PhysicalSidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel(PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a PhysicalSidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

The UE 102 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 106via connection 107. The connection 107 can comprise a local wirelessconnection, such as, for example, a connection consistent with any IEEE802.11 protocol, according to which the AP 106 can comprise a wirelessfidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP 106 is shown to beconnected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of thewireless system (described in further detail below).

The RAN 110 can include one or more access nodes that enable theconnections 103 and 104. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to asbase stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), Next GenerationNodeBs (gNBs), RAN nodes, and the like, and can comprise ground stations(e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providingcoverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). In some aspects, thecommunication nodes 111 and 112 can be transmission/reception points(TRPs). In instances when the communication nodes 111 and 112 are NodeBs(e.g., eNBs or gNBs), one or more TRPs can function within thecommunication cell of the NodeBs. The RAN 110 may include one or moreRAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node 111, and one ormore RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells havingsmaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidthcompared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node 112.

Any of the RAN nodes 111 and 112 can terminate the air interfaceprotocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 101 and 102.In some aspects, any of the RAN nodes 111 and 112 can fulfill variouslogical functions for the RAN 110 including, but not limited to, radionetwork controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management,uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packetscheduling, and mobility management. In an example, any of the nodes 111and/or 112 can be a new generation Node-B (gNB), an evolved node-B(eNB), or another type of RAN node.

The RAN 110 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network(CN) 120 via an S1 interface 113. In aspects, the CN 120 may be anevolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network,or some other type of CN (e.g., as illustrated in reference to FIGS.1B-1I). In this aspect, the S1 interface 113 is split into two parts:the S1-U interface 114, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes111 and 112 and the serving gateway (S-GW) 122, and the S1-mobilitymanagement entity (MMF) interface 115, which is a signaling interfacebetween the RAN nodes 111 and 112 and MMEs 121.

In this aspect, the CN 120 comprises the MMEs 121, the S-GW 122, thePacket Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 123, and a home subscriberserver (HSS) 124. The MMEs 121 may be similar in function to the controlplane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) SupportNodes (SGSN). The MMEs 121 may manage mobility aspects in access such asgateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 124 maycomprise a database for network users, including subscription-relatedinformation to support the network entities' handling of communicationsessions. The CN 120 may comprise one or several HSSs 124, depending onthe number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, onthe organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 124 canprovide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization,naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

The S-GW 122 may terminate the S1 interface 113 towards the RAN 110, androutes data packets between the RAN 110 and the CN 120. In addition, theS-GW 122 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN nodehandovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Otherresponsibilities of the S-GW 122 may include a lawful intercept,charging, and some policy enforcement.

The P-GW 123 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 123may route data packets between the EPC network 120 and external networkssuch as a network including the application server 184 (alternativelyreferred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP)interface 125. The P-GW 123 can also communicate data to other externalnetworks 131A, which can include the Internet, IP multimedia subsystem(IPS) network, and other networks. Generally, the application server 184may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resourceswith the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PSdata services, etc.). In this aspect, the P-GW 123 is shown to becommunicatively coupled to an application server 184 via an IP interface125. The application server 184 can also be configured to support one ormore communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP)sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networkingservices, etc.) for the UEs 101 and 102 via the CN 120.

The P-GW 123 may further be a node for policy enforcement and chargingdata collection. Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) 126 is thepolicy and charging control element of the CN 120. In a non-roamingscenario, in some aspects, there may be a single PCRF in the Home PublicLand Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet ProtocolConnectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario witha local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with aUE's IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within an HPLMN and a VisitedPCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). ThePCRF 126 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 184via the P-GW 123.

In some aspects, the communication network 140A can be an IoT network ora 5G network, including 5G new radio network using communications in thelicensed (5G NR) and the unlicensed (5G NR-U) spectrum. One of thecurrent enablers of IoT is the narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT).

An NG system architecture can include the RAN 110 and a 5G network core(5GC) 120. The NG-RAN 110 can include a plurality of nodes, such as gNBsand NG-eNBs. The core network 120 (e.g., a 5G core network or 5GC) caninclude an access and mobility function (ANTE) and/or a user planefunction (UPF). The AMF and the UPF can be communicatively coupled tothe gNBs and the NG-eNBs via NG interfaces. More specifically, in someaspects, the gNBs and the NG-eNBs can be connected to the AMF by NG-Cinterfaces, and to the UPF by NG-U interfaces. The gNBs and the NG-eNBscan be coupled to each other via Xn interfaces.

In some aspects, the NG system architecture can use reference pointsbetween various nodes as provided by 3GPP Technical Specification (TS)23.501 (e.g., V15.4.0, 2018 December). In some aspects, each of the gNBsand the NG-eNBs can be implemented as a base station, a mobile edgeserver, a small cell, a home eNB, and so forth. In some aspects, a gNBcan be a master node (MN) and NG-eNB can be a secondary node (SN) in a5G architecture.

FIG. 1B illustrates a non-roaming 5G system architecture in accordancewith some aspects. Referring to FIG. 1B, there is illustrated a 5Gsystem architecture 140B in a reference point representation. Morespecifically, UE 102 can be in communication with RAN 110 as well as oneor more other 5G core (5GC) network entities. The 5G system architecture140B includes a plurality of network functions (NFs), such as access andmobility management function (ANTE) 132, session management function(SMF) 136, policy control function (PCF) 148, application function (AF)150, user plane function (UPF) 134, network slice selection function(NSSF) 142, authentication server function (AU SF) 144, and unified datamanagement (UDM)/home subscriber server (HSS) 146. The UPF 134 canprovide a connection to a data network (DN) 152, which can include, forexample, operator services, Internet access, or third-party services.The AMF 132 can be used to manage access control and mobility and canalso include network slice selection functionality. The SMF 136 can beconfigured to set up and manage various sessions according to networkpolicy. The UPF 134 can be deployed in one or more configurationsaccording to the desired service type. The PCF 148 can be configured toprovide a policy framework using network slicing, mobility management,and roaming (similar to PCRF in a 4G communication system). The UDM canbe configured to store subscriber profiles and data (similar to an HSSin a 4G communication system).

In some aspects, the 5G system architecture 140B includes an IPmultimedia subsystem (IMS) 168B as well as a plurality of IP multimediacore network subsystem entities, such as call session control functions(CSCFs). More specifically, the IMS 168B includes a CSCF, which can actas a proxy CSCF (P-CSCF) 162BE, a serving CSCF (S-CSCF) 164B, anemergency CSCF (E-CSCF) (not illustrated in FIG. 1B), or interrogatingCSCF (I-CSCF) 166B, The P-CSCF 162B can be configured to be the firstcontact point for the UE 102 within the IM subsystem (IMS) 168B. TheS-CSCF 164B can be configured to handle the session states in thenetwork, and the E-CSCF can be configured to handle certain aspects ofemergency sessions such as routing an emergency request to the correctemergency center or PSAP. The I-CSCF 166B can be configured to functionas the contact point within an operators network for all IMS connectionsdestined to a subscriber of that network operator, or a roamingsubscriber currently located within that network operator's servicearea. In some aspects, the I-CSCF 166B can be connected to another IPmultimedia network 170E, e.g. an IMS operated by a different networkoperator.

In some aspects, the UDM/HSS 146 can be coupled to an application server160E, which can include a telephony application server (TAS) or anotherapplication server (AS). The AS 160B can be coupled to the IMS 168B viathe S-CSCF 164B or the I-CSCF 166B.

A reference point representation shows that interaction can existbetween corresponding NF services. For example, FIG. 19 illustrates thefollowing reference points: N1 (between the UE 102 and the AMF 132), N2(between the RAN 110 and the AMF 132), N3 (between the RAN 110 and theUPF 134), N4 (between the SMF 136 and the UPF 134), N5 (between the PCF148 and the AF 150, not shown), N6 (between the UPF 134 and the DN 152),N7 (between the SMF 136 and the PCF 148, not shown), N8 (between the UDM146 and the AMF 132, not shown), N9 (between two UPFs 134, not shown),N10 (between the UDM 146 and the SMF 136, not shown), N11 (between theAMF 132 and the SMF 136, not shown), N12 (between the AUSF 144 and theAMF 132, not shown), N13 (between the AUSF 144 and the UDM 146, notshown), N14 (between two AMFs 132, not shown), N15 (between the PCF 148and the AMF 132 in case of a non-roaming scenario, or between the PCF148 and a visited network and AMF 132 in case of a roaming scenario, notshown), N16 (between two SMFs, not shown), and N22 (between AMF 132 andNSSF 142, not shown). Other reference point representations not shown inFIG. 1E can also be used.

FIG. 1C illustrates a 5G system architecture 140C and a service-basedrepresentation. In addition to the network entities illustrated in FIG.system architecture 140C can also include a network exposure function(NEF) 154 and a network repository function (NRF) 156. In some aspects,5G system architectures can be service-based and interaction betweennetwork functions can be represented by corresponding point-to-pointreference points Ni or as service-based interfaces.

In some aspects, as illustrated in FIG. 1C, service-basedrepresentations can be used to represent network functions within thecontrol plane that enable other authorized network functions to accesstheir services. In this regard, 5G system architecture 140C can includethe following service-based interfaces: Namf 158H (a service-basedinterface exhibited by the AMF 132), Nsmf 1581 (a service-basedinterface exhibited by the SMF 136), Nnef 158B (a service-basedinterface exhibited by the NEF 154), Npcf 158D (a service-basedinterface exhibited by the PCF 148), a Nudm 158E (a service-basedinterface exhibited by the UDM 146), Naf 158F (a service-based interfaceexhibited by the AF 150), Nnrf 158C (a service-based interface exhibitedby the NRF 156), Nnssf 158A (a service-based interface exhibited by theNSSF 142), Nausf 158G (a service-based interface exhibited by the AUSF144). Other service-based interfaces (e.g., Nudr, N5g-eir, and Nudsf)not shown in FIG. 1C can also be used.

Techniques discussed herein can be performed by a UE or a base station(e.g., any of the UEs or base stations illustrated in connection withFIG. 1A-FIG. 1C).

Beam management solutions have been standardized in 3GPP new radio (NR)Release-15. These solutions are designed to support UEs with thedirectional transmit/receive beamforming operations. Specifically,supported techniques include transmission of beam indications to the HE,reporting of layer 1 reference signal receive power (L1-RSRP) based onchannel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) and synchronizationsignal/physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) block and beam recoveryprocedures in case of a detected beam failure event.

In NR Release-16, enhancements for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)transmission 0 have been started with the objectives includingimprovements to beam management. To support downlink (DL) beam selectionat the UE, a transmission configuration indication (TCI) framework maybe used. The TCI framework is based on a combination ofradio-resource-control (RRC), medium-access-control control-element (MACCE) and downlink control information (DCI) signaling. Specifically, RRCmay be used to semi-statically configure a set of TCI states and theirrespective reference signals (RSs), and MAC CE or DCI is used todynamically select among the configured TCI states. By virtue of suchcombination, RRC reconfiguration signaling can be avoided for UEs onlymoving within a cell so as to enable the distributed implementation ofthe radio protocols in base station with separate central unit (CU) anddistributed units (DU).

However, the uplink (UL) beam operation may be less flexible than DL. Tosupport UL beam selection, a spatial relation concept has beenintroduced. More specifically, it may be possible to configure a spatialrelation between a source DL RS and a target UL RS for the UE supportingbeam correspondence. For UE not supporting beam correspondence, spatialrelations between two UL RSs can be configured. However, in contrast toa DL case, the ability to update the spatial relation by using MAC CE orDCI for UL beam operation is rather limited. Techniques disclosed hereininclude methods to enable more flexible and dynamic adjustments ofspatial relations between UL RSs for both UL data (e.g., via PUSCH) andcontrol information (e.g., via PUCCH) beam operations.

MAC-CE Based Periodic/Aperiodic SRS Resource Set (or SRS-ResourceSet)Spatial Relationship Configuration

In some aspects, to more dynamically adjust the spatial relation settingfor periodic/aperiodic SRS-ResourceSet, a new MAC CE can be used, asdiscussed herein and illustrated in FIGS. 2-3. The MAC CE signals theupdated spatial relationship source signal for the SRS resources in theperiodic/aperiodic SRS-ResourceSet. The “use” parameter of theperiodic/aperiodic SRS-ResourceSet can be either “codebook” or“Non-codebook”. This would enable a more dynamic change of the set ofcandidate beams/panels for UL data transmission.

In one embodiment, the new MAC CE can be implemented by using a newlogic channel ID (LCID). The format of the proposed MAC CE isillustrated in FIG. 2. More specifically, FIG. 2 illustrates a MAC CE200 for periodic/aperiodic SRS resource set spatial relationshipconfiguration, in accordance with some aspects.

The fields of the MAC CE 200 in FIG. 2 are summarized as follows:

SUL: This field indicates whether the MAC CE applies to an NR Uplink(NUL) carrier or a supplementary UL (SUL) carrier configuration. Thisfield may be set to “1” to indicate it applies to the SUL carrierconfiguration, and it may be set to “0” to indicate it applies to theNUL carrier configuration.

SRS-ResourceSet's Cell ID: This field indicates the identity of theserving cell, in which the SRS-ResourceSet is configured. The length ofthe field may be 5 bits.

BWP ID: This field contains the bandwidth part (BWP) identification (ID)of the SRS-ResourceSet. The length of the BWP ID field may be 2 bits.

SRS-ResourceSet ID: This field contains the SRS-ResourceSet ID. Thelength of the field may be 4 bits.

C: This field indicates whether the octets containing the ResourceServing Cell ID field(s) and the Resource BWP ID field(s) are present.If this field is set to “1”, the octets containing the Resource ServingCell ID field(s) and the Resource BWP ID field(s) are present. If thisfield is set to “0”, they are not present and all resources indicated inthe Resource IDi fields are located one the Serving Cell and BWPindicated by SRS Resource Set's cell ID and SRS Resource Set's BWP IDfields.

Fi: This field indicates the type of a resource used as a spatialrelationship for SRS resource within the SRS Resource Set indicated withthe SRS-ResourceSet ID field. F0 refers to the first SRS resource withinthe resource set, F1 to the second one, and so on. The field is set to“1” to indicate non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resource index is used, itis set to “0” to indicate either SSB index or SRS resource index isused. The length of the field may be 1 bit.

Resource ID#i: This field contains an identifier of the resource usedfor spatial relationship derivation for SRS resource i. Resource ID0refers to the first SRS resource within the resource set, Resource ID1to the second one and so on. If Fi is set to “0” and the first bit ofthis field is set to “1”, then the remainder of this field containsSSB-Index as may be specified in 3GPP TS is 38.331. If Fi is set to “0”and the first bit of this field is set to “0,” then the remainder thisfield contains an SRS-ResourceId (e.g., as may be specified in 3GPP TS38.331). The length of the field may be 7 bits.

Resource Serving Cell ID#i: This field indicates the identity of theServing Cell, on which the resource used for spatial relationshipderivation for SRS resource i is located. The length of the field may be5 bits.

Resource BWP ID#i: This field contains BWP-Id, as may be specified in3GPP TS 38.331, of an uplink bandwidth part on which the resource usedfor spatial relationship derivation for SRS resource i is located. Thelength of the field may be 2 bits.

R: reserved bits, which may be set to 0.

In some aspects, a beam direction associated with a spatial relationshipreference signal of a plurality of spatial relationship referencesignals is derived (e.g., based on the MAC CE fields disclosed herein),where the spatial relationship reference signal corresponds to theselected SRS (e.g., based on the Resource ID#i). An SRS can be selected(e.g., from the identified SRS resource set), and the selected SRS isencoded for beamforming, so that the selected SRS is transmitted in thederived beam direction (e.g., via two or more antennas configured forbeamforming transmissions).

In another embodiment, the new MAC CE can be implemented by extending aMAC CE used for semi-persistent (SP) SRS Activation/Deactivation. Theenhanced format of the proposed MAC CE is illustrated in FIG. 3. Morespecifically, FIG. 3 illustrates an enhanced MAC CE 300 for SRS resourceset spatial relationship configuration, in accordance with some aspects.

The fields of the MAC CE 300 in FIG. 3 are summarized as follows:

A/D: This field is valid when the Type field is “00”. If the Type fieldhas other values, this field may be ignored. When the Type field is“00”, this field may indicate whether the MAC CE is used to activate ordeactivate indicated SP SRS resource set. The field may be set to “1” toindicate activation, otherwise, it indicates deactivation.

Type: This field defines the type of time-domain behavior ofSRS-ResourceSet. The field may be set to “00”, “01,” and “11” toindicate semi-persistent, aperiodic and periodic transmission,respectively. The length of the field may be 2 bits.

By virtue of the new field “Type” defined in FIG. 3, the current MAC CEused for SP SRS activation/deactivation may be extended to configure thespatial relationship for periodic and aperiodic SRS-ResourceSet as well.The new configuration may be applied in x ms, e.g., x=3 after theHARQ-ACK has been sent in response to the PDSCH carrying the MAC CE.

MAC-CE Based PUCCH-ResourceSet Spatial Relationship Configuration

In some aspects, the spatial relationship of PUCCH resources can bereconfigured by MAC CE “PUCCH spatial relation activation/deactivation”on the PUCCH resource basis. However, in some aspects, it can bebeneficial to dynamically reconfigure all the PUCCH resources in aparticular PUCCH-ResourceSet or all PUCCH resources in allPUCCH-ResourceSets with same set of the spatial relationshipscorresponding to a set of candidate beam directions. To this end, a newMAC CE illustrated in FIG. 4 may be used to enable the dynamicreconfiguration of spatial relationships of PUCCH resources onPUCCH-ResourceSet basis. FIG. 4 illustrates a MAC CE 400 for a PUCCHresource set spatial relationship configuration, in accordance with someaspects.

The fields of the MAC CE 400 in FIG. 4 are summarized as follows:

Serving Cell ID: This field may indicate the identity of the ServingCell for which the MAC CE applies. The length of the field may be 5bits.

BWP ID: This field may contain a BWP ID of an uplink bandwidth part forwhich the MAC CE applies. The length of the BWP ID field may be 2 bits.

U#i: This bit field corresponds to the (i+1)th PUCCH-ResourceSet. Whenthe bit is set to 1, the spatial relation activation field S#i in thefollowing octet shall be applied to the (i+1)th PUCCH-ResourceSetOtherwise, the (i+1)th PUCCH-ResourceSet maintains to use the oldspatial relation settings.

S#i: If there is a PUCCH Spatial Relation Info withPUCCH-SpatialRelationInfoId i (as may be specified in 3GPP TS 38.331),configured for the uplink bandwidth part indicated by BWP ID field, S#iindicates the activation status of PUCCH Spatial Relation Info withPUCCH-SpatialRelationInfoId i, otherwise the MAC entity may ignore thisfield. The S#i field is set to “1” to indicate PUCCH Spatial RelationInfo with PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfoId i should be activated. The Sifield is set to “0” to indicate PUCCH Spatial Relation Info withPUCCH-SpatialRelationInfoId i should be deactivated. If there aremultiple S#i activated, i.e., is set to 1, they shall be evenlyallocated to one or several PUCCH Resources in the correspondingPUCCH-ResourceSet. For example, if there are in total 8 PUCCH resourcesin the PUCCH-ResourceSet, and four S#i, where i=2, 3, 4 and 5, areactivated. If B#n define the (n+1)th activated spatial relation, as aresult, B#0=S#2, B#1=S#3, B#2=S#4 and B#3=S#5. Then the PUCCH resources2n and 2n+1, where n=0, 1, 2 and 3, shall be associated with B#n.

R: Reserved bit, which may be set to “0”.

In some aspects, the new configuration shall be applied in x ms, e.g.,x=3, after the HARQ-ACK has been sent in response to the PDSCH carryingthe MAC CE. With the proposed MAC CE, the PUCCH resources in aparticular PUCCH-ResourceSet or all PUCCH-ResourceSets can be configuredwith desired spatial relationships by a signal MAC CE. Thissignificantly reduces the signaling overhead and simplifies theimplementation complexity of beam tracking.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device such as anevolved. Node-B (eNB), a next generation Node-B (gNB), an access point(AP), a wireless station (STA), a mobile station (MS), or a userequipment (UE), in accordance with some aspects and to perform one ormore of the techniques disclosed herein. In alternative aspects, thecommunication device 500 may operate as a standalone device or may beconnected (e.g., networked) to other communication devices.

Circuitry (e.g., processing circuitry) is a collection of circuitsimplemented in tangible entities of the device 500 that include hardware(e.g., simple circuits, gates, logic, etc.). Circuitry membership may beflexible over time. Circuitries include members that may, alone or incombination, perform specified operations when operating. In an example,the hardware of the circuitry may be immutably designed to carry out aspecific operation (e.g., hardwired). In an example, the hardware of thecircuitry may include variably connected physical components (e.g.,execution units, transistors, simple circuits, etc.) including amachine-readable medium physically modified (e.g., magnetically,electrically, moveable placement of invariant massed particles, etc.) toencode instructions of the specific operation.

In connecting the physical components, the underlying electricalproperties of a hardware constituent are changed, for example, from aninsulator to a conductor or vice versa. The instructions enable embeddedhardware (e.g., the execution units or a loading mechanism) to createmembers of the circuitry in hardware via the variable connections tocarry out portions of the specific operation when in operation.Accordingly, in an example, the machine-readable medium elements arepart of the circuitry or are communicatively coupled to the othercomponents of the circuitry when the device is operating. For example,any of the physical components may be used in more than one member ofmore than one circuitry. For example, under operation, execution unitsmay be used in a first circuit of a first circuitry at one point in timeand reused by a second circuit in the first circuitry, or by a thirdcircuit in a second circuitry at a different time. Additional examplesof these components with respect to the device 500 follow.

In some aspects, the device 500 may operate as a standalone device ormay be connected (e.g., networked) to other devices. In a networkeddeployment, the communication device 500 may operate in the capacity ofa server communication device, a client communication device, or both inserver-client network environments. In an example, the communicationdevice 500 may act as a peer communication device in peer-to-peer (P2P)(or other distributed) network environment. The communication device 500may be a UE, eNB, PC, a tablet PC, a STB, a PDA, a mobile telephone, asmartphone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or anycommunication device capable of executing instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that communicationdevice. Further, while only a single communication device isillustrated, the term “communication device” shall also be taken toinclude any collection of communication devices that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloudcomputing, software as a service (SaaS), and other computer clusterconfigurations.

Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic ora number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangibleentities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations andmay be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example,circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to externalentities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. Inan example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., astandalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardwareprocessors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g.,instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a modulethat operates to perform specified operations. For example, the softwaremay reside on a communication device-readable medium. In an example, thesoftware, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causesthe hardware to perform the specified operations.

Accordingly, the term “module” is understood to encompass a tangibleentity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specificallyconfigured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily)configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or toperform part or all of any operation described herein. Consideringexamples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of themodules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example,where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processorconfigured using the software, the general-purpose hardware processormay be configured as respective different modules at different times.The software may accordingly configure a hardware processor, forexample, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time andto constitute a different module at a different instance of time.

Communication device (e.g., UE) 500 may include a hardware processor 502(e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit(GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a mainmemory 504, a static memory 506, and mass storage 507 (e.g., hard drive,tape drive, flash storage, or other block or storage devices), some orall of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g.,bus) 508.

The communication device 500 may further include a display device 510,an alphanumeric input device 512 (e.g., a keyboard), and a userinterface (UI) navigation device 514 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, thedisplay device 510, input device 512 and UI navigation device 514 may bea touchscreen display. The communication device 500 may additionallyinclude a signal generation device 518 (e.g., a speaker), a networkinterface device 520, and one or more sensors 521, such as a globalpositioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or anothersensor. The communication device 500 may include an output controller528, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, orother wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication(NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheraldevices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.

The storage device 507 may include a communication device-readablemedium 522, on which is stored one or more sets of data structures orinstructions 524 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one ormore of the techniques or functions described herein. In some aspects,registers of the processor 502, the main memory 504, the static memory506, and/or the mass storage 507 may be, or include (completely or atleast partially), the device-readable medium 522, on which is stored theone or more sets of data structures or instructions 524, embodying orutilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions describedherein. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor502, the main memory 504, the static memory 506, or the mass storage 516may constitute the device-readable medium 522.

As used herein, the term “device-readable medium” is interchangeablewith “computer-readable medium” or “machine-readable medium”. While thecommunication device-readable medium 522 is illustrated as a singlemedium, the term “communication device-readable medium” may include asingle medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributeddatabase; and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store theone or more instructions 524. The term “communication device-readablemedium” is inclusive of the terms “machine-readable medium” or“computer-readable medium”, and may include any medium that is capableof storing, encoding, or carrying instructions (e.g., instructions 524)for execution by the communication device 500 and that cause thecommunication device 500 to perform any one or more of the techniques ofthe present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding orcarrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions.Non-limiting communication device-readable medium examples may includesolid-state memories and optical and magnetic media. Specific examplesof communication device-readable media may include: non-volatile memory,such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically ProgrammableRead-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such asinternal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; RandomAccess Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples,communication device-readable media may include non-transitorycommunication device-readable media. In some examples, communicationdevice-readable media may include communication device-readable mediathat is not a transitory propagating signal.

The instructions 524 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 526 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device 520 utilizing any one of a number of transferprotocols. In an example, the network interface device 520 may includeone or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) orone or more antennas to connect to the communications network 526. In anexample, the network interface device 520 may include a plurality ofantennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one ofsingle-input-multiple-output (SIMO), MIMO, ormultiple-input-single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, thenetwork interface device 520 may wirelessly communicate using MultipleUser MIMO techniques.

The term “transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangiblemedium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions forexecution by the communication device 500, and includes digital oranalog communications signals or another intangible medium to facilitatecommunication of such software. In this regard, a transmission medium inthe context of this disclosure is a device-readable medium.

Although an aspect has been described with reference to specificexemplary aspects, it will be evident that various modifications andchanges may be made to these aspects without departing from the broaderscope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specification anddrawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictivesense. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in alimiting sense, and the scope of various aspects is defined only by theappended claims, along with the fill range of equivalents to which suchclaims are entitled.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. An apparatus, comprising: one or more processors,wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause a userequipment (UE) to: decode a medium access control (MAC) control element(CE) from a base station, the MAC CE dynamically configuring a spatialrelationship for physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resourceswithin a PUCCH resource set, wherein the dynamic configurationconfigures the same spatial relationship for the PUCCH resources withinthe PUCCH resource set; identify a PUCCH resource of the PUCCH resourceset and the spatial relationship corresponding to a beam direction;encode a PUCCH for beamforming to transmit the PUCCH on the PUCCHresource in the corresponding beam direction.
 22. The apparatus of claim21, wherein the MAC CE separately indicates a spatial relationship foreach of a plurality of PUCCH resources sets.
 23. The apparatus of claim21, wherein the MAC CE indicates the same spatial relationship appliesfor PUCCH resources of all PUCCH resource sets.
 24. The apparatus ofclaim 21, wherein the MAC CE includes a bandwidth part (BWP) ID toidentify the BWP for which the MAC CE applies.
 25. The apparatus ofclaim 21, wherein the MAC CE includes a serving cell ID to identify theserving cell for which the MAC CE applies.
 26. The apparatus of claim21, wherein the MAC CE is 3 octets.
 27. The apparatus of claim 21,wherein the MAC CE reduces the signaling overhead in comparison to aPUCCH spatial relation activation/deactivation MAC CE.
 28. The apparatusof claim 21, wherein the spatial relationship in the MAC CE isconfigured by a PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfoId.
 29. A computer-readablestorage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or moreprocessors of a user equipment (UE), the instructions to configure theUE for uplink (UL) beam selection in a New Radio (NR) network, and tocause the UE to: decode a medium access control (MAC) control element(CE) from a base station, the MAC CE dynamically configuring a spatialrelationship for physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resourceswithin a PUCCH resource set, wherein the dynamic configurationconfigures the same spatial relationship for the PUCCH resources withinthe PUCCH resource set; identify a PUCCH resource of the PUCCH resourceset and the spatial relationship corresponding to a beam direction;encode a PUCCH for beamforming to transmit the PUCCH on the PUCCHresource in the corresponding beam direction.
 30. The computer-readablestorage medium of claim 29, wherein the MAC CE separately indicates aspatial relationship for each of a plurality of PUCCH resources sets.31. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the MAC CEindicates the same spatial relationship applies for PUCCH resources ofall PUCCH resource sets.
 32. The computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 29, wherein the MAC CE includes a bandwidth part (BWP) ID toidentify the BWP for which the MAC CE applies.
 33. The computer-readablestorage medium of claim 29, wherein the MAC CE includes a serving cellID to identify the serving cell P for which the MAC CE applies.
 34. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the spatialrelationship in the MAC CE is configured by aPUCCH-SpatialRelationInfoId.
 35. A user equipment (UE), comprising:wireless communication circuitry; one or more processors coupled to thewireless communication circuitry, wherein the one or more processors areconfigured to cause the UE to: decode a medium access control (MAC)control element (CE) from a base station, the MAC CE dynamicallyconfiguring a spatial relationship for physical uplink control channel(PUCCH) resources within a PUCCH resource set, wherein the dynamicconfiguration configures the same spatial relationship for the PUCCHresources within the PUCCH resource set; identify a PUCCH resource ofthe PUCCH resource set and the spatial relationship corresponding to abeam direction; encode a PUCCH for beamforming to transmit the PUCCH onthe PUCCH resource in the corresponding beam direction.
 36. The UE ofclaim 35, wherein the MAC CE separately indicates a spatial relationshipfor each of a plurality of PUCCH resources sets.
 37. The UE of claim 35,wherein the MAC CE indicates the same spatial relationship applies forPUCCH resources of all PUCCH resource sets.
 38. The UE of claim 35,wherein the MAC CE includes a bandwidth part (BWP) ID to identify theBWP for which the MAC CE applies.
 39. The UE of claim 35, wherein theMAC CE includes a serving cell ID to identify the serving cell for whichthe MAC CE applies.
 40. The UE of claim 35, wherein the spatialrelationship in the MAC CE is configured by aPUCCH-SpatialRelationInfoId.